Sunday, January 12, 2014

Coyote Party

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I put the trail camera next to the deer carcass I recently discovered in Redwood Creek, wondering if the animals were still checking out the bones. On this set I propped a log vertically against a horizontal fallen log so I could fasten the camera in the proper orientation. Those are the buck's antlers in the foreground, still attached to its skull. You can also make out its rib cage. Coyotes visited the carcass on Sunday and Monday.

A raccoon passed by on Wednesday without a glance toward the carcass.

A coyote dropped by again on Thursday morning to gnaw on some skinny rib bones.

Later in the day, a turkey vulture dropped down through the dense tree canopy to have a look, but it didn't stay long. The camera only fired three frames, meaning the vulture was already gone before the 5-second delay ran out.

'Round about midnight, a couple more coyotes showed up. The one on the right had its attention drawn up-creek by...

...two more coyotes! 'Tis the season for pairing up. These guys and gals were all over that carcass for quite a while. I would guess they all took part in the initial devouring of the buck. Makes me wonder if coyotes killed the buck in the first place. On the other hand, its final resting place isn't far from the road, so maybe it was injured by a car and wandered over to the creek to expire.

This coyote scratched in the dirt a couple of times. In this frame it appears to be vocalizing....